So It Seems
by SilentLibrettist
Summary: Since her father died, the only happiness that Fayth and the other orphans have in their life is the Ice Age series. After starting the film up yet again, the TV screen turns white, and Fayth suddenly finds herself in the company of Manny, Sid and Diego!
1. Let's Meet the Main Character!

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**Yeah, I realize that I'm probably pissing off every fan of Long Forgotten Loves now, but still, you can't blame me for wanting some criticism on my writing.**

**To the fans of that story, I have already sent the next chapter to my beta, so you won't have enough time to kill me before it's updated.**

**I hope!**

**Those of you who found your way here because you wanted to read an Ice Age story, I really hope you enjoy. Reviews are lovely, but no flames, please. If you hate my writing, break it to me gently!**

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I suddenly fell from my warm slumber, hitting hard against the cold ground. I let out a short yelp, surprised at the rude awakening.

I groaned, rubbing my head. Pushing myself off of the cold floor, I tried to ignore the giggles that echoed across the room.

"Why aren't you used to falling out of bed yet, Fayth?" A young voice asked, the pale-green eyes and tan face that belonged to the voice peering over the end of a cot at me.

"I dunno, Ellie. You'd think that since I've fallen out of bed every morning for three years, I'd stop yelping as I fell." I said dryly, pushing my wavy black bangs out of my forest green eyes.

Ellie giggled, rolling out of bed. Her long, completely straight strawberry-blond hair was pulled into a cute braid, one that I did for both of the young girls at night.

"Well, it's a good way to get everyone up in a good mood." She said, pulling off her thin nightgown and undoing her braid. She pulled on her red tee-shirt and her only pair of jeans.

"Yeah, I know how you all love to laugh at my pain." I grumbled, pulling on a blue teeshirt and my jeans, stuffing the tough fabric into my thick black hiking boots.

Ellie giggled again, happily pulled on her little shoes, then headed out of the door to our room. I wondered vaguely where she was going, but then recalled that it was movie day.

Once every few weeks or so, the orphanage 'caretakers' went out, leaving their crappy TV behind for a day. Two and a half years ago, I had the idea of watching a movie on it, going out with my limited amount of money and buying the cheapest, but still popular, movie in the store at the time; Ice Age.

The other children at the home were completely terrified of the prospect of using the TV without the 'caretakers' permission. I had convinced them to at least watch the beginning with me, and we would stop if they wanted to later.

As I predicted, the three little girls and four boys were glued to the TV screen by the time the mammoth came in. Most of them had never seen a movie before, and were completely enthralled in the moving pictures. When the movie was over, every single child was begging me to play it again.

We had fallen in love with Ice Age, as it was the only rebellious thing we did in the home. When the second movie came out, I instantly saved up any money I found, and bought the movie, all us impatiently waiting for the caretakers to leave for the day now known as 'movie day'. By the time the second movie had come out, though, one girl and two boys had been adopted.

The movie had so much influence on the remaining children that they named themselves after it. As they had been here since they were young, they had no name, and was only known by their hair colour. The remaining boys and girls-excluding me-named themselves after characters in the first two movies.

I picked out names that I found from the movies that I thought would fit them, and the kids picked the name they liked the best. The golden-haired siblings, one lanky and small, the other more bulkily built, named themselves after Zeke and Diego. The bulky, blue-eyed boy was now Diego, and the lankier, brown-eyed one was Zeke.

The strawberry-blond girl had decided on Ellie, since her hair and eyes were similar colour, and she loved the female mammoth. The other girl, Rachel, had named herself after the blond female sloth Sid had flirted with near the beginning of the movie. Rachel had silky, pale blond hair, which she kept medium length and in a high ponytail in honor of the sloth. Her blue eyes shone with mischief, though she could be extremely lazy at times.

The kids wanted me to take the name Jennifer, after the other sloth that was seen with Rachel. Though I had chin-length, wavy black hair, and green eyes like the sloth, I didn't want to be Jennifer. After going through many different names from the two movies, including male names, the younger ones were ready to give up.

Ellie suggested that we name me Faith, since that's what seemed to be the message in most movies. I instantly liked it, but I said that 'Faith' was cliché. Rachel had mentioned she had once seen it spelled with a 'y' instead of an 'i', and suddenly, I had a new name.

After paying for and watching the third movie, all the kids had practically fallen in love with Peaches and Buck. Zeke said that he would've named himself after the insane weasel if he had seen the movie sooner.

I was knocked out of my thoughts when a sudden weight slammed me into the ground. I looked up to see pale blond hair and mischievous blue eyes smiling at me.

"Rachel! You're getting too heavy to do that anymore!" I yelled playfully, scooping the blond up and placing her back on her bed. She pouted.

"I am not heavy!" She protested, then grinned slyly at me. "Well, not as heavy as _you_, anyway." Thinking she had won, she hopped down off the bed.

"Well, muscle weighs more than fat, and your _still_ almost too heavy for me to lift." I said back at her, watching as she suddenly halted and stared in shock back at me. Her mouth gaped, but before she could find words, Zeke came bursting through the door.

"They're gone! Break out the Ice Ages!" He shouted, pulling us out of the room and into the boys room. Diego and Ellie had already dragged in the old TV, and had pushed the boys cots together to make one average-sized couch.

Zeke and Rachel hopped on the bed, watching me impatiently. I laughed, then went towards a rusted grate in the wall. I took off the grate, and then grabbed the carefully wrapped package.

I unwrapped it as I walked over to the TV, putting in the first movie. As the screen went blue for a second, as it always did, I flopped down onto the joined cots, making the kids dive away.

I skipped over the previews, as we didn't care to be temped by things we couldn't have. As the small squirrel hopped onto the screen, Zeke, Diego, Rachel and Ellie all sat on the front of the cot, blocking my view of the television.

I rolled over and sat up, watching the little squirrel scratch at the ice. As the camera angle changed, the scene suddenly went white, and stayed like that.

The cries of dismay from the kids was deafening. I rolled my eyes, heading towards the screen. It was such an old TV, but I knew how to fix it...most of the time.

As I walked closer, I felt a wave of dizziness come over me. I stumbled, but didn't hit the ground. Instead, I fell into a chilling white, the calls of the kids echoing behind me.

Rachel, Zeke, Diego, and Ellie stared at the TV which had just swallowed their adopted elder sibling. The DVD skipped, then suddenly showed Manny walking up the cliff into the human village.

The kids exchanged glances as the camera angle changed, showing a lithe figure lying on a prehistoric pillow, wavy black hair and thick trench coat spread messily around her.

The mammals walked over to Fayth, and began to argue about what to do.

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**Well, I hope you enjoyed! And if you didn't, tell me why! Just not in a flame!**

**As with my other story, if I get one positive review, I'll update. I've already written a heck of a lot of the story, so don't be shy!**


	2. Meeting the Trio

**Well, that was fast! Thanks to J_essluvswriting_ for reviewing the first chapter! And for all my Aladdin story fans (including Jessluvswriting), I have updated!**

**Well, I hope the one person who is reading this enjoys this next chapter!**

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I came to a while later, blinking away the dizziness and colours. Distant voice whispered in my ears, making me confused. As I continued to blink and let my sight and hearing come back, the voices became clearer.

Was that...Ray Romano? Why was I hearing Ray Romano? And...Denis Leary...?

Oh, yeah. We were watching Ice Age on the crappy excuse for a television we have. I must've fallen asleep during Scrat's scene. The little squirrel was funny, but I had seen this movie too many times, as it was one of the three we had.

I sighed; the floor felt dustier and harder than normal. Moving my head slightly, I noticed the soft-ish fabric separating my head from the ground. One of the kids must've put a pillow under my head, the sweet little things. And my fathers trench coat was over me; those kids could be really caring if they put their minds to it.

Ray Romano's voice pulled me from my thoughts, making me blink in irritation.

"We should leave it with this one. They'll find the other humans on their own." He said, seemingly arguing with someone. Funny, I didn't remember this line.

"She's all by herself! And she doesn't look very old, either. There's no way they'll make it to the other human's safely." The voice was slightly nasally, and had a weird lisp.

Now, I knew this line wasn't in the movie.

"How do you know it's going to wake up, anyway?" Denis Leary's voice said, sounding like he was trying to smooth-talk them into something.

"It's breathing, and it doesn't look injured." Said Ray Romano, sounding exasperated.

Now I was confused; what was I hearing? I was pretty sure that these three actors only worked together in the Ice Age series, but I've watched all three, and I hadn't heard any of these lines.

Feeling curious, I opened my eyes, then was surprised to see the three main Ice Age characters standing in front of me, Sid holding the baby, Roshan.

Sid looked in my direction and jumped back, screaming. The other two looked that way as well, instantly taking up a defensive position. I blinked at them, wondering what was up.

"It's awake!" Shouted Sid, hiding behind Manny and clutching his leg. The mammoth shook him off, but kept his eyes in my direction. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I would think he was looking directly at me.

I slowly sat up, watching the three mammals eyes follow me. Now I was on my guard; it seemed like they were actually watching me.

I stayed sitting, watching them curiously.

After a few moments of tense silence, Diego sighed.

"It doesn't look like it'll do anything. Besides, even if it does try something, it's out-numbered and young." He said, sitting down. I was slightly surprised at the lack of care about a human so close, but then realized his reflexes were so fast that he really didn't need to pay attention to me.

"See, now it's awake. Just hand it the kid." Manny said, nudging Sid. Sid shook his head defiantly.

"She's not old enough to take care of him! I say we should get both of them back to their herd." Sid said, clutching the kid close.

'_Young?'_ I thought, raising an eyebrow. _'I'm seventeen, nearly eighteen. How is that young?'_

"No way. Leave it with the other one and go." Manny said, obviously getting tired of Sid.

"But how are they going to find their way to their herd? You heard the tiger, if you don't know how to track, there's no way you can make it to Glacier Pass before the snow closes in.

"I don't care!" Manny shouted at him, but didn't walk away, still wary of me.

"But-" Sid was cut off.

"The sloth's right. I'll take them back to their herd; it's what I was doing in the first place." Diego said, walking over to me. I pulled back a bit, knowing exactly what would happen if Roshan and I were left alone with him.

"See! She doesn't like you. I think we should let her decide." Sid said, smiling as if he had just made an obvious point. Manny and Diego rolled their eyes.

"You're forgetting that humans can't talk." Diego said snidely.

"Well, maybe this one is smarter." Sid said, walking over to me.

"I doubt it." Said Manny aridly. Sid rolled his eyes at Manny, then continued until he was right in front of me.

"Do you..." He pointed at me, speaking slowly. "...want to travel..." He mimicked walking, looking completely idiotic. "...with us..." He pointed at himself, then Manny. "...to go to..." He mimed walking again, but a bit different. "...your herd?" He pointed again at me, then Roshan, then to the remains of the village around us.

Sid waited patiently for a response, while Manny and Diego rolled their eyes.

"You're waisting your time. Humans can't speak." Manny repeated what Diego had said earlier.

"No, no, wait. I think she understands me!" Sid said, looking at me again.

"No, she's wondering why some strange sloth is in her face, making unintelligible noises at her." Diego said sarcastically.

"I feel sorry for her. The poor thing has to listen to you, with no way of knowing what an idiot you are." Manny said dryly as Sid glared up at him.

"So you'll take her back to her herd?" Sid asked, twisting Manny's words against him. The mammoth snorted.

"That's not what I meant!" He said, agitated. "The only way I'm taking them back is if she starts talking to us!" He shouted, thinking this was the end of it.

"Well, why didn't you say so?" I asked, finally tired of being talked about like I couldn't understand them. The three mammals jumped back, completely shocked.

"I think your idiocy is contagious, Sid. I just heard the human talk." Manny said, staring at me.

"Me too." Diego said, also not comprehending what was going on. Sid looked at me for a bit, then grinned at Manny.

"I told you she was smart." Sid said smugly. Manny and Diego still couldn't believe what they heard.

"No, actually, you said that _maybe_ I was smarter than most humans." I said, watching in amusement as Manny looked from me to Sid.

"How did you learn to speak?" Manny asked, walking closer to me. I shrugged.

"Dunno. I just did." I said, not quite sure myself why I could understand them.

"Well, that doesn't matter!" Sid interjected, then looked to Manny. "Now, you have to take them back."

Manny glared at Sid, reminded of his earlier statement. He looked at me, still glaring. I flinched slightly, the childish side of me coming out a bit.

"Alright, fine. We'll return them to the humans." Manny said, beginning to walk off.

"The big, bad tigey-wigey gets left behind. Poor tigey-wigey." Sid said, patting Diego on the snout.

"Sid, tigey-wigey is gonna lead the way." Manny said, making Sid stop and run over to him. I followed, wanting to stay closer to the mammoth than the tiger or sloth.

"Manny, can I talk to you for a second?" Sid said.

"No. The sooner we find the humans, the sooner I get rid of Mr Stinky Drool-Face, and the baby, too." Manny said, walking on. I kept up with him, wanting to stay as far away from the tiger as possible.

"Hey, über-tracker. Up front, where I can see you." Manny called back. Diego came up, leaving Sid behind with Roshan. We began to walk, me dreading the hour of crying I knew would happen.

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**Well, that's it for now!**

**Same as before, one review = next chapter!**


	3. Feelin' a Bit Twitchy

**If this keeps up, I may end up publishing all I have on this one. If so, I'll just write more! Thanks to the one reviewer, ****J_essluvswriting._**

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It was more than an hour later, and the kid hadn't stopped crying. I was feeling a bit twitchy, and I could tell my companions were feeling similar.

"Ohhh, you gotta make it stop. I can't take it anymore." Manny said, finally snapping.

"I've eaten things that didn't complain this much." Diego mentioned, also tired of the baby's complaining.

"He won't stop squirming." Sid said, now holding Roshan upside-down in his arms.

"You're holding him wrong." I said plainly, watching the poor baby struggle.

"Watch it's head!" Said Manny.

"Just put it down!" Shouted Diego, finally tired of this.

"Jeez, 'pick him up, put him down,'" Sid mocked, making a few more annoying noises. Sid and Diego looked at the baby, whom was now set down on a rock.

"It's nose is dry." Pointed out Diego. I rolled my eyes; these guys obviously had no clue what to do with humans.

"That means something's wrong with it." Said Sid.

"Someone should lick it. Just in case." Said Diego, eyeing Sid. I rolled my eyes again, sighing.

"I'll do it." Sid volunteered, picking up Roshan.

"Hey, he's wearing one of those baby thingies." Manny interjected.

"So?" Sid said, tongue already out to lick Roshan's nose.

"So if he poops, where does it go?" Manny pointed out. Diego and Sid's eyes widened as they realized what he meant.

"Humans are disgusting." Sid said, holding the baby away from him. I cleared my throat slightly, reminding everyone of my presence. "Uh, I mean, except for you, um..." Sid said, trying to save himself. He then seemed to realize something.

"Hey, you have a name?" He asked. I raised an eyebrow.

"Fayth." Short, sweet, and to the point.

"Fayth the...?" Sid prompted.

"Fayth the green-eyed, black-haired, teenage human." I added on, not feeling like arguing with the sloth today.

"You have green eyes?" Sid asked, shocked.

I had forgotten that humans in this era only had brown eyes. Oh, well. I'm weird enough with being able to speak to animals.

"Yup." I replied.

"That's impossible." Diego said. "Humans can't have green eyes."

"Well, I guess it's just another strange thing about me." I said, uninterested in another conversation about my forest green eyes.

"Impossible." Diego stated again, now miffed about being brushed off.

"I have the eyes to prove it." I said, now getting worked up over the questioning of my eye colour.

Diego was about to reply with another smart-ass comment, but was cut off by Roshan's crying.

"Ok, you." Manny poked Sid with his trunk, getting the sloths attention. "Check for poop."

I raised my eyebrows at him and his utter ignorance of the conversation Diego and I just had.

"Hey, why am I the poop checker?" Sid asked. Manny instantly shoved his face into the sloths, hovering over him menacingly.

"Because returning him was your idea, because you're small and insignificant, and because I'll pummel you if you don't." He said.

"Why else?" Sid said, pushing his luck.

"Now, Sid!" Manny yelled. Sid's body moved out form under him, his face still looking at Manny's until the last minute.

"Ew, yuck. Ew!" Sid said, changing the baby's diaper. "I mean, my goodness." Sid said, looking slyly between Diego and Manny. Sid took the diaper off the baby, and was now swinging it around.

"Okay, look out, look out. Coming through." Sid said, walking around backwards. I was already behind Manny; it may be clean, but I didn't want a diaper touching any part of me today.

"Hey, watch out!" Manny shouted, stepping away from Sid.

"Stop waving that thing around!" Diego shouted, ducking under the diaper. SId moved back, heading towards Manny.

"Ooh, ooh, I'm gonna slip!" He said, then pretended to trip, then tossed the diaper into the air. It landed on Manny's trunk as Sid laughed. Manny grabbed the diaper and threw it to the ground.

"It's clean! Got ya!" Sid said, laughing. Roshan was still crying, but stopped and giggled as Manny whacked Sid upside the head.

"Will you cut it out." The mammoth said. As Sid shook himself out of it, Roshan started crying again.

"Do that again. He likes it." Diego said. Manny whacked Sid again, and the baby giggled.

"It's making me feel better, too." Manny said, smiling.

"Here, you hold it." Sid held the baby out to me, but I whacked him in the head again. Roshan laughed, then began to slap Sid a bit, trying to make him make the weird face again. Sid grabbed his hand to stop him, and the kid started crying again.

"Turn him towards me." Diego said, making Sid put the baby down on the rock. He then covered his eyes.

"Where's the baby..." He said, then uncovered his eyes quickly, shouting, "There he is!" Roshan stopped crying, looking in shock at the tiger. "Where's the baby...?" Diego repeated his previous actions. "There he is!" This time, Roshan began crying out of fear.

"Stop it, you're scarin' him." Manny said, punching Diego out of the way. Roshan wailed, then suddenly stopped and looked down as his stomach grumbled.

"I bet he's hungry." Sid said, snapping his fingers.

'_Ya think?'_

"How about some milk?" Manny asked.

"Ooh, I'd love some." Sid said.

"Not you, the baby." Said Diego, growling at the sloth. There was a moment of silence, then the three mammals turned to me.

"No." I said flatly, crossing my arms over my chest instinctively.

"What? It's a poor, defenseless, hungry baby of your own kind, and you won't give it some milk?" Sid said, trying to make me guilty. I rolled my eyes at his lack of human knowledge.

"Humans can only make milk when they're pregnant. I, my furry friends, am not pregnant, so I can't help you." I explained, but kept my arms crossed.

"Oh, so first you say you have green eyes, and then you say you can't make milk? You're female, for goodness sake!" Said Diego.

"Just because I'm female means I should be able to make milk? And, for your information, I do have green eyes!" I ground out, now getting extremely irritated at the saber-tooth tiger.

"Well, I-" Our little fight was cut off by Manny.

"Enough!" He shouted. The shout echoed across the canyon we were in, making us all freeze. Suddenly, a melon fell out of a nearby bush, startling us.

"Food!" The three mammals said as they realized what it was. Manny walked over to the melon and picked it up, planning to give it to Roshan. A dodo suddenly popped out of the bush, squawking. He stole the melon from Manny, then ran down a path, sending one last squawk in our direction.

We all sent each other a look, then began to follow the dodo.

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**Well, that was a bit short. But whatever, if ****J_essluvswriting _reviews again, more will be soon to come!**


	4. I Don't Know but I've Been Told

**Well, I'm going to publish this chapter and then one more, then no more tonight. I swear.**

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We came across what looked like a dodo boot camp, what with the singing of cadences and the marching.

The dodos were going on about how they needed to protect the dodo way of life, and prepare for the ice age.

"Ice age?" Sid asked, watching the dodos in confusion.

"I've heard of these crackpots." Said Diego, rolling his eyes at the ridiculous birds. The bird that stole our melon put it on a stump with two others, then caught sight of our shadows.

"Intruders!" The dodo shouted, running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.

Nearby was four dodo's gathered around pool of acid; probably telling them not to fall in. As the chicken-dodo ran around, he fell in, a hissing noise the last thing the bird probably heard.

"Hey, can we have our melon back? Junior's hungry and, uh..." Manny tried.

"No way!" One of the dodo's from around the acid pool ran towards us, jumping on the stump that held the melons.

"This is our private stockpile for the Ice age. Subarctic temperatures will force us underground for a billion-billion years." As the bird spoke, other dodo's gathered around it.

"So you got three melons?" Manny asked, pointing out the obvious flaw in their plan. All the dodos looked at their food stock, then back at us.

"If you weren't smart enough to plan ahead, then doom on you." What seemed like the head dodo said. The others began repeating 'Doom on you', walking towards us in what was supposed to be menacing.

"Get away from me." Manny said, backing away from the slightly creepy, stupid birds. I was standing behind the sloth, unwilling to get too involved in this.

The head dodo suddenly slipped, making the melon roll out from underneath him and straight into Roshan's hands.

"Oh, no! No! Retrieve the melon! Tae kwon dodos, attack!" The head bird called. Three other birds came out, flipping into the air with the stereotypical karate saying. One landed backwards, then kicked the middle dodo out of the way. The one on the other side then kicked him to Sid, who then kicked the melon out of Roshan's hands.

I rolled my eyes at all the kicking, then again as the birds tossed the melon over the cliff. I finally face-palmed when six dodos went after it, all jumping off the cliff to their doom.

Sid had handed Roshan to me, and was now hiding behind the stump and grabbing another melon. All the birds suddenly gasped and ran at him, all grabbing at the fruit. This melon was lost to the acid pit, along with the three dodo's who tried to save it.

"The last melon." The dodos said together, all looking at Sid, who held the mentioned fruit. They all jumped and dog-piled on him, making the melon bounce away and into Manny's grasp.

The mammoth held it in his trunk, moving it form side to side as the birds jumped after it. I was going to kick the dodo behind him out of the way before he could bite Manny's tail, but it was too late.

"Aah!" Manny shouted, the melon flying off into the air towards Sid. The sloth caught it after it bounced off of several dodos heads, then looked up at all the birds, who took a menacing step towards him.

Roshan made a small cry, reaching out for Sid. I saw the sloth get a determined look on his face, then ran straight through the flock of dodos. He was bashing birds left and right, sending them all flying through the air.

Sid was surrounded by dodos, seemingly no way out. (Here, I scoffed. _'How dramatic.'_) He jumped over the dodos, falling in a impressive bouncing heap of fur on the ground.

Roshan smiled and cheered, happy for Sid. Manny and Diego smiled as well, grinning at the thought of silence at last. The dodos were patting each other on the back sadly, seeing that they had lost.

Sid did a little dance, similar to a moon walk, then proceeded to smash the melon on the ground.

"Ah, Sid! Now we gotta find more food." Diego scowled.

I put down Roshan, watching as he picked up a piece of fruit and started eating. Manny and Diego smiled in surprise.

I felt my stomach growl as well, but I shrugged it off. I would last quite a while longer than the baby would without food.

"Right, Right, more to the right. Right, right, right." We all looked up at some dodos, who were stacked on top of each other in a comical tower, trying to walk.

"Look at that. Dinner and a show." Manny said as the dodos passed in front of us. We all watched as the birds wobbled over to the cliff edge.

"Left, left, left!" The birds shouted, finally toppling over the edge.

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A while later, we had decided to camp in a bowl-like area, Manny lying up against a short wall. Diego had already 'fallen asleep', we settled down after watching Sid get hit in the head with a branch and loosing a fight with Scrat, the squirrel. I leaned against the shorter rocks beside Manny, on the other side of Sid.

"Oh, the triumphant return." Manny said sarcastically as Sid walked in.

"Huh? Oh, that." Sid said, laughing slightly and sitting down on a rock near Manny. "I' so full."

"How 'bout a good-night kiss for your big buddy, Sid?" Asked Sid in a baby voice.

"Shh, he's asleep." Replied Manny, assuming that Sid was talking to Roshan.

"I was talking to you." Sid said, turning his head away snobbishly. Manny glared at him. "Fine, I'll just tuck myself in." He proceeded to climb on the rock, yawning and making a ridiculous amount of noise.

"All right, good night." He said through yawns. He stretched out on the rock, then turned onto his left side. Then his stomach. And then flipped himself completely, head on the ground and foot in the air. Sid kicked the air, making an obnoxious sound. He then used his shoulders to move himself around, smacking his lips together. And_ then_ he yawned loudly, putting his head and arm up into the air. He turned over onto his back, then yawned again.

"Will you stop it!" Manny shouted, finally fed up. Sid fell off the rock.

"All right, all right. I was trying to relax." He crawled back on the rock, curled up, and stuck his thumb in his mouth, finally settling down.

"Oy vey." I mumbled, about ready to pummel the sloth myself. Manny shifted slightly so that he would be able to see me.

"Are your eyes really green?" The mammoth suddenly asked. I started; I didn't think he was that interested.

"Yeah." I said, slightly embarrassed; my eyes were always the first thing people noticed about me.

"Really?" He asked again, seemingly surprised. "Every human I've ever seen has had brown eyes." He stiffened slightly as he spoke about humans, but I pretended I not to notice. "In fact, most of other creatures have brown eyes, too."

"Yeah, well." I responded, stretching. "I guess it's just one more unique thing about me." As I finished, I shivered, pulling my long trench coat closer to me. Hey, just because it kept me from freezing to death, doesn't mean I wasn't cold. In fact, I was the coldest I had ever been in my life.

"How do you humans stay warm without fur?" Manny asked.

"Clothes." I responded, pulling mine even tighter around me. Manny opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. "You know, the furs and stuff that humans wear over their skin?"

"Yeah, I knew that." Manny replied. "Then why are you still cold?"

"Well, most humans around here have thick blood, in order to not loose heat easily. I, however, come from someplace much warmer, so I don't have thick blood. Therefor, I get cold much easier than most humans." I explained as best as I could, shivering again as if to prove my point.

"Get over here." Said Manny. I started again, looking at him in wonderment. "I don't need you freezing to death when I'm supposed to be bringing you back to your herd."

"You don't have to. The baby's the only one you need to get to his herd. He won't survive without it." I told him, now feeling guilty for tagging along when it wasn't my herd.

"And you will?" Manny said incredulously. "You don't look like you could survive a week on your own."

"I probably can't." I admitted. I had none of the skills necessary to survive in this era; in mine, I would thrive, but here?

"Then why are you so eager to be left behind from your herd?" Manny asked, honestly confused. I sighed.

"Because it's not my herd." I admitted, now sad as the fact I might be left behind. "I don't have a herd."

"That's impossible; everyone has a herd." He said. I laughed slightly at the hypocrisy of the statement.

"My herd was my mother; and once she died, my father. Now that he's gone, I'm on my own." I said quietly. Manny shifted.

"I'm sorry. If it's any consolation, I know how you feel." He said softly. I remembered seeing in the movie Manny's story, drawn on the cave walls.

I was about to thank him for the sentiment, when I was over come by a violent shiver.

"Well, herd or not, I'm not going to let you freeze to death. Get over here." He repeated what he had ordered earlier. This time I got up and sat down at his side, instinctively snuggling into the warm fur.

I felt a yawn come over me now that the cold was subdued; it had been a long day. My eyelids drooped, also telling me that it was time to sleep.

I allowed myself to drift off, knowing nothing would happen tonight.

**~~~~~P.O.V. Change~~~~~**

Manny looked down on the little human who had so easily fallen asleep against him. He had watched her snuggle into his side, curling into the warmth. She had then yawned, her eyelids drooping over her deep green eyes.

'_So she wasn't kidding.'_ Manny had thought, surprised.

He turned to the baby asleep in his trunk, watching as he cuddled against his warm fur as well. For a while, he looked between the two humans, both sleeping peacefully, trusting him to keep them safe.

Manny smiled slightly as he fell asleep, curling is trunk tighter around the young boy.

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**I'm going to put up the other chapter now, then you won't hear anything from me for a while.**


	5. Send Me On My Way

**Well, unless I get a review for this story, you may not hear from me today.**

**Say, just to be annoying, does anyone feel like betaing this story? Just curious!**

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I suddenly fell from my warm slumber, hitting hard against the cold ground. I let out a short yelp, surprised at the rude awakening.

I was about to groan about how I still wasn't used to falling out of the narrow cot at the home, when I was shocked to my feet by two sudden 'thuds' that practically shook the ground.

"Where's the baby?" A voice said. Looking around, I caught sight of a mammoth, and behind him, a saber-tooth tiger.

"You lost it?" The tiger asked. They paused for a moment, then yelled in sync:

"Sid!"

As Manny and Diego stomped off to find the sloth, the events of the previous day came back to me. I sighed in exasperation at my apparent inability to wake up peacefully, and started slowly after Diego.

I walked slowly along the path, trying to time it so that I'd miss the rhinos, and come in right as Manny walked by.

I counted the seconds, then got confused onto how many seconds there was in the scenes away, then lost count. Sighing in irritation, I finally walked up to where Sid and Diego were.

Coming up, I saw Sid in Diego's mouth, now trying to escape.

"Guys, I thought we were in a hurry." Manny said, walking by. "And Diego, spit that out. You don't know where it's been." Diego spit Sid out.

"Boy, for a second there, I actually thought you were gonna eat me." Sid said, laughing.

"I don't eat junk food." Diego said, following after Manny.

"I thought you were gonna-I thought you were gonna...were you?" Sid said, staring at Diego.

"Fayth!" Manny shouted. I walked towards them.

"Here." I called, jogging slightly to catch up with Manny. Sid was still staring at Diego, but after a few moments, caught up with us.

I wondered what I would do when they reached Roshan's family; I couldn't go with them, I wasn't a Neanderthal.

Shrugging, I quick-stepped to keep up with the rest of our little herd. I would figure out what to do when we got there.

For most of the day, we just traveled, walking along on the way to Glacier Pass.

As we walked through a huge opening in a snow-covered evergreen forest, Sid fell behind.

"Come on, wait up. Wait up. Wai-come on, come on, fellas. Can you wait a second, please? Hey, fellas." Sid called. We ignored him; Manny and Diego able to travel through the snow, and Roshan and I hitching a ride on Manny's back.

After passing through the forest, we came to a small geyser. Manny and Diego gave each other a sly look, then stopped and turned around. We waited a while for Sid.

"Whew. Thanks for waiting." The sloth said as he caught up, flopping down onto the geyser.

"Three, two, one..." Manny and Diego counted. On 'one', the geyser erupted, sending Sid up into the air.

"Sure is faithful." Manny commented. I was giggling at first, and finally broke out into full laughter when Sid fell back into geyser, head-first. Diego looked up at me from the ground and grinned, also chuckling at Sid's misfortune.

A while later, about an hour after we had taken a quick break to eat and stretch, I heard a small 'Ah' form Roshan. He was being carried by Sid now, and I was walking alongside Manny. I rolled my eyes, realizing the poking war about to begin.

Sure enough, soon there was the dull poking sounds, drowned out by Roshan's shrieks.

"Don't make me reach back there!" Called Manny.

"Yeah, well, he started it." Sid called back while Diego shook his head.

"I don't care who started it. I'll finish it." Manny replied.

A few seconds later, Manny did actually have to break it up, which consisted of grabbing Roshan in his trunk after whacking Sid upside the head.

I shook my head as well, both surprised and not that the fight actually had to be broken up by Manny.

I was suddenly pulled from my thoughts as I was lifted off the ground by Manny. I was sitting on one of his tusks, riding along while Roshan giggled at me from Manny's trunk.

Confused, but grateful for the ride-I wasn't used to walking in so much snow for so long-I kept silent, and focused on keeping my balance.

About ten minutes later, we came to a rock that blasted red smoke as we came near. A glacier cut across our path, moving just like a train would in my time. As the slab of ice passed, the rock emitted a blast of green light, signaling for us to go.

'_That part has never ceased to make me giggle.'_ I thought, smothering the small smile on my face with my hand.

I was now bored and not paying attention to the time, so it was now just 'a while later.' We were walking along a huge piece of ice connecting two short cliffs. Roshan and I were riding on Manny's back again. I had tried to walk, but Manny said he had worked out a system and didn't want me messing with it. I personally thought it was because he was such a softy, but I digress.

As we walked over, Manny's weight made the piece of ice tip until it touched the other cliff. When Manny stepped off, the ice slab fell back into place, flinging Sid back. I smiled, a small giggle escaping from my lips.

Manny looked up at me, then held up his curled trunk. Realizing what he wanted, I fist-bumped his trunk, laughing along with him.

We had switched positions again, and Sid was carrying Roshan wile I walked beside Manny and Diego. Suddenly, a snowball hit Manny on the backside. As Many and I turned around, Sid pointed at Roshan. Manny obviously didn't buy it, but walked on anyway.

I had fallen asleep on Manny's back-hey, I needed to sleep now in order to stay awake during the blizzard coming up-and was woken up by him talking.

"-never last." Was all I caught as I woke up. I sat up and yawned, not bothering to stretch, as I would probably fall asleep again soon.

I looked behind me and to the left, trying to remember what had caused Manny to speak. As I caught sight of an extremely famous historical monument, my eyes widened.

The Stone Circle. The mysterious architecture from thousands of year ago; mysterious because no one knew where it came from.

As I gaped at the circle of stacked stones, Manny's trunk came down and pushed me gently back into a laying position on his back.

"It's nothing, I didn't mean to wake you up. Go back to sleep." Came his gruff voice, trunk gently patting my head as I snuggled back into his fur. Throwing one last glance at the stones, I put my head down, falling asleep easily.

I was waken again by voices; this time they were arguing.

"I can carry her a bit longer, she's asleep." Said Manny's voice.

"What about 'messing with the system'?" Sid pointed out. I noticed that he was now carrying Roshan. It must be time to switch. I sat up, yawning and stretching my arms back until my shoulders and back cracked.

"I'm up, I'm up." I mumbled, sliding off of Manny's back. Looking ahead, I saw a huge frozen-over lake.

'_So I missed Diego's footprint fake-out.'_ I mused, walking in step beside Manny.

"Did we wake you up?" Manny said, irritation-at Sid, of course-in his voice.

"Yeah, but it's fine. I should be sleeping during the day anyway." I replied. We came to a stop, noticing the huge expanse of ice in front of us. We looked to either side; it would take us longer to walk around than go over.

Sid was the first to step on, easily skating on the ice. Watching how easily Sid did it, Manny and Diego instantly stepped on as well.

I kept well away from Manny and Diego, wanting to stay away from crushing weight and flailing claws.

"Hiya, Manny." Sid said, skating in a circle around the mammoth. I stepped onto the ice, immediately slipping and sliding out a few meters.

"Hiya, Fayth." Sid called to me, Roshan balanced on his head as he skated by. Diego was out a couple meters away from Manny, claws not enough to keep him from slipping.

"Hiya, Diego." Sid repeated, skating in a few circles around the tiger. By this time, I had regained my balance and had recalled the basics of skating without skates. My father had taken me out quite a few times.

I was almost pulled back into my sad memories when a sudden 'Crack!' distracted me. I looked over to see Sid stuck in a cliff face, Roshan a few feet away, giggling.

I skated over to the baby, picked him up and put him on my shoulders. I then skated behind Diego and pushed on his flank to get him sliding towards the snow-covered ground. As he jumped off of the ice and shook himself off, I skated back over to Manny.

I took hold of his trunk and led him over to the closest ground on the side we needed to be on. He got himself out, taking Roshan from my shoulders and holding him in his trunk.

I started to walk, wanting to be the first to mock Sid, but I was once again pulled up onto one of Manny's tusks.

"Hey, Sid." Called Manny as we walked by, otherwise ignoring the sloth struggling to escape the ice.

An hour or so later, we came to a four-way fork in the path.

"You're lost, aren't you?" Asked Manny, looking past me beside him to Diego.

"No. I know exactly where we are." Diego replied, annoyed.

"Ask him directions." Manny said, pointing to Scrat, who was trying to bury his acorn in the middle of the fork.

"I don't need directions." Replied Diego, not willing to admit he was lost.

"Fine, I'll ask him." Manny said, walking up to the squirrel. "Hey, buddy. You see any humans go by here?"

Scrat shook his head, then scratched his head, thinking. He then brightened, making the signal for charades.

"Oh, ooh, ooh, ooh, I love this game. I love this game. Okay, Okay." Sid called, then watched as Scrat held up three fingers.

"Three words." Scat nodded, holding up one finger. "First word." Scrat stomped on the ground, packing the snow down. "Uh, stomp." Sid guessed, but Scrat shook his head. "No, no. Stamp, stamp." Scrat face-palmed.

"Let me try." Said Manny. Scrat picked his acorn up and put it on his back, like a back pack. "Uh, pack!" He guessed. Scrat nodded.

"Good one, Manny." Sid complimented. "Pack of-" The squirrel moved his claws beside his fangs, pointing them dramatically downwards. "Long teeth." Scrat flexed his claws. "And claws."

Diego looked at his claws, then quickly retracted them.

"Pack of wolves?" Sid guessed, him and Manny continuing to guess as Scrat groaned and walked over to Diego, pointing at him. Diego looked around, and seeing that the other two were into their guessing, flick the squirrel away.

He went flying, Sid was making increasingly stupid guesses.

I rolled my eyes, as Diego shrugged and started off down the widest path. Manny followed suit, me quickly catching up with them. Sid was still guessing.

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**K! Please review! Reviews are food for authors!**


	6. Ice Sliding

**Well, I got another review, so I am publishing this chapter! Thanks to __ (whew...what a mouthful!) and _Jessluvswriting_ for reviewing!**

**Hope you enjoy!**

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Twenty or so minutes later, I looked out of the corner of my eye to see Sid throw another snowball at Manny, this time hitting him behind the right ear. Manny turned abruptly, glaring at Sid.

Roshan, who was on a rock near Sid, pointed at the guilty sloth. Sid laughed, then his eyes went wide as Manny tossed a huge snowball at him. The snow buried him, making Roshan and I giggle. Manny grinned at us.

I walked over to Roshan, taking him in my arms and walking back over to Manny. I grinned as the baby hugged me, snuggling into a female for the first time in a while.

A blizzard had moved in suddenly, so sudden that I didn't have enough time to make it onto Manny's back. He had to push me up, and from there I stayed, huddling into the warmth.

As I looked up a while later, I saw that Diego's long fangs were frozen over, Manny's tusks had icicles hanging on them, and that Sid snot had frozen onto his nose.

The stinging wind too much for me now, I turned back to Manny, making sure Roshan was tucked safely in my trench coat.

At about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, we were coming up to a peak. The blizzard had cleared, and everyone had thawed out. Well, as much as a human from the 21st century can in the ice age, anyway.

Roshan and I were still on Manny's back, Roshan because Sid was too far behind to toss him, and me because I was still frozen.

I looked up as we came to the cliff, Diego running back and stopping us before we could see past the snow.

"Hey! Great news. I found a shortcut!" He said. Roshan slipped off of the top of Manny's head, sliding down his trunk. Manny caught him before he fell completely, lifting his back onto his head.

"What do you mean, shortcut?" Asked Manny.

"I mean faster than the long way around." Said Diego, trying to slip out of the question.

"Ow! I know what a shortcut is!" Manny said, Roshan crawling on his face, trying to get back up.

"Look, either we slip through there and beat the humans to Glacier Pass or we take the long way and miss 'em." Diego tried to talk Manny into it.

"Through there?" Manny asked, pointing at the menacing crack in the rock. "What do you take me for?"

"This time tomorrow, you could be a free mammoth." Diego said smoothly. Roshan was now hanging onto Manny's eyelid, seemingly working in Diego's favor. "Or a nanny. Personally, I never get tired of peekaboo."

"Hey, guys. Hey, guys. Check this out." Sid called, sticking two pieces of an icicle and sticking them on either side of his neck, making exaggerated gagging sounds.

"Sid, the tiger found a shortcut." Manny cut off Sid, completely uninterested. Sid looked up at the cliff face, then dropped his icicle pieces and began to walk away.

"No thanks, I choose life." He was stopped in his tracks by Diego.

"Then I suggest you take the shortcut." Diego said threateningly.

"Are you threatening me?" Sid asked obliviously.

"Move, Sloth!" Diego shouted, snapping. The sound echoed across the area, and a rumble alerted us that the vibrations had shook loose snow, making a avalanche.

As the ice fell, Sid patted Diego on the head.

"Way to go, tiger." He said sarcastically.

"Quick, inside!" Manny shouted, nearly jarring me off of his back in his hurry to get to safety. The herd headed towards the cave, Sid just making it in as rocks blocked the entrance.

We heard a chiming sound, and all looked up to see the icicles hanging from the ceiling shivering, as if to fall. We instantly turned back towards the entrance, but were stopped when we saw the blockade of rocks.

Everyone looked towards the icicles, waiting for them to fall. As they stopped shaking and settled, the herd breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Ok, I vote shortcut." Manny said, walking deeper into the cave. Diego and Sid immediately followed.

"Come one, guys. Stick together. it's easy to get lost in here." Diego warned. Manny continued to follow Diego, while Sid was looking around. I saw him bump into an icicle, then fall to the ground. I turned back around, knowing Sid would be fine.

Unlike the path Sid took, ours just held empty ice. Well, maybe they held something; I was too busy ducking low-hanging icicles to notice.

"Will you keep up, please? It's hard enough to keep track of one baby." Manny called to Sid.

As Manny said this, Roshan and I were scooped off of his back by a low ice shelf. I was now disorientated and off balance, unable to stop myself and Roshan from going into slide-like area.

All three mammals screamed as we went over, and I caught a glance of them looking over the edge at us as we slid.

I heard more sliding and yelling indicating that the three guys had jumped in. I found myself giggling as I slid; it had been a while since I had been on a slide. Luckily, the ice was so slick that my jeans and coat didn't catch; that could've been bad for my health.

I heard Roshan giggle as he slid, and barely held back my own. As the slide became faster, I found myself laughing; this was fun!

We came to a three-way split in the slide, Roshan going down the path to the right and I going down the middle. I vaguely recalled this being the path Manny went as well, but at the moment I couldn't have cared less.

After a few seconds, there was a dip in the slid, making my laughter stutter, and then come back full force as I went flying through the air. This time I was aerodynamic enough to go into the same area as Sid and Roshan.

I saw Sid in front of me catch the baby, then drop him as he fell through a opening in the floor. I carefully avoided the hole, then caught up with the baby.

Even though I was pretty much converted back to a toddler on a playground, I hadn't lost all of my sense of responsibility. I grabbed hold of Roshan, holding him in my lap as we sped through the ice.

I was having too much fun to worry about the field of sharp, pointy icicles, but luckily, I didn't have to worry. The slide we were on let us off just past it, putting us in the circular tunnel that I recalled from this scene.

I heard screaming and a grinding sound and panicked for a second, my laughter stopping. As Manny, Diego, and Sid came through in one piece, I sighed in relief.

Unfortunately, as I did so, I let go of Roshan. He pushed off of my legs for extra speed, and managed to get a few feet ahead of me. I paid no attention to Manny and Diego's little competition, but I did notice when Sid tried to grab Roshan. His failure slowed the kid down a bit, making me able to grab him and put him in my lap.

Just as I did so, we were suddenly propelled into the air on another slide, Roshan squealing in excitement. I could help but to let out a shriek of my own, but it was more surprised.

I looked down to see Manny turn around on the slide, ready to catch Roshan and I. We seemed to be extremely aerodynamic, and I could tell it would take a few more seconds to-oh, never mind. We were already falling.

I saw Diego walking out of the hole in the snow shaped like him, then my vision suddenly went brown with Manny's fur. His trunk wrapped protectively around Roshan and I, cradling us as he hit the packed snow.

The snow fell, giving each of us a new snow-hat. The only sound was Roshan and my giggles, but I was trying to stifle them. Suddenly Diego popped out of the snow, shouting.

"Wow! Whoo! Yeah! Who's up for round two?" Diego punched Manny in the side, then stuck two fingers in his face. Everyone except for Roshan and I stared at him.

"Oh." Diego cleared his throat in embarrassment. "T-t-tell the kids to be more careful."

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**Well, that's it for now. Please review! Reviews are wonderful, beautiful, awesome things that authors love!**


	7. Fire and Ice

**Here's to the two people who reviewed the chapter!**

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After the whole ice slide fiasco, I managed to quiet my giggles. We all got up and shook ourselves off, walking towards what looked like a cave.

I gasped; I knew this was going to happen, but I still felt amazed to be in a cave where the ancestors of human kind had been and wrote down their history.

Everyone looked pretty amazed at the drawings, though Manny was definitely the least interested. Sid walked up to a picture of saber-tooth tigers hunting antelope.

"Look, look. Tigers." He said to Roshan. "Yeech." The sloth flinched as he realized what the tigers were doing. The baby whined slightly. "No, it's OK, it's OK. Look, the tigers are just playing tag with the antelope. With their teeth." Sid continued.

I ignored almost everyone, I was too busy trying to absorb all this just by looking at it. The actual prehistoric evidence of our ancestors...history had never interested me, but being this far back in my own history had completely humbled me.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by some of Sid's blathering.

"Find a she-moth, have little baby mammoths..." Sid had put Roshan down and was counting on his fingers.

"Sid." Diego said, probably for the second time.

"What?" Sid asked, looking over at Diego.

"Shut up." Diego said, then looked up at Manny.

"But..." Sid was confused, but then looked at Manny. "Oh."

The mammoth was completely engrossed in the cave pictures, eyes wide. He stared for a while, seeing the story of his first mate and child.

I walked over as well, seeing Roshan looking at the drawing as well. I refused to look at the wall; this part had always made me cry, and doing so now wasn't a good idea.

Even without looking at the wall, I could see the story in my head, how his mate and child had been killed by humans. Manny's trunk traced over the form on the baby mammoth. Instinctively wanting to give him some space, I went for Roshan, forgetting how important this moment was to the two of them.

Roshan put his hand on the picture Manny was looking at, and Manny blinked out of his stupor. I had reached for the baby, therefor was in Manny's line of sight as well. He looked calmly down at us.

Roshan raised his arms up to walk, but lost his balance and fell onto Manny's trunk, which had been out to catch him. As I had gone to catch the baby as well-why was I so easily forgetting what happened in the movie!-my hand brushed against Manny's trunk.

The mammoth looked over to me, and I found myself looking down, now ashamed at myself for interrupting the moment. As I was expecting for Manny to walk off, I was surprised when he wrapped his trunk around me as well as Roshan.

Startled, I looked up at Manny. He was looking at both of us, tears in his eyes. Roshan reached out his little arms, and Manny brought us close for a hug.

Though I was surprised, I wrapped one arm around Manny's trunk and one around Roshan, hugging back.

I felt tears in my eyes, and blinked them back; I hadn't cried in years, and there was no way I was starting now.

Manny pulled back from the hug, smiled at the baby, and place him carefully on his back. He turned to me, wrapping his trunk around my waist and placing me carefully on his back behind Roshan.

He then headed towards the exit of the cave, where the sunlight was streaming in. Sid soon was walking beside us, actually quiet for once. I turned my head to see Diego looking at the cave wall guiltily. He then turned and followed us, showing that he was looking at the picture of Manny and his previous mate.

A few minutes after we got out of the cave, we found ourselves in a huge expanse of snow. A black, menacing craggy peak loomed near us, making me shiver. I knew what waited for us there.

"Would you look at that. The tiger actually did it. There's Half Peak. Next stop, Glacier Pass." Manny commented, turning to Diego. "How could I ever have doubted you?"

Roshan was now in Manny's trunk, and I was sitting on one of his tusks. He had apparently decided that he needed to keep both of us closer.

"Did you hear that, little fella?" Sid said from behind the other of Manny's tusks. "You'e almost home!" He smiled, then looked down at his feet.

"My feet are sweating." He said, sounding confused. We were now a few meters in front of him.

"Do we need a news flash every time your body does something?" Diego asked.

"He's doing it for attention, just ignore him." Manny told us, tossing Roshan up into the air slightly, making him giggle.

"Seriously." Sid called, hopping from foot to foot. "My feet are really hot. Ow, ow." He hopped over to us, still 'ow'ing. I turned, presumably to look at the sloth, and saw that a huge circle in the ground was now red. Due to my lack of insulating fur, I could already feel the change in heat in the air.

There was a menacing rumble that came from behind us. We all stopped.

"Tell me that was your stomach." Manny didn't sound like he believed his own words.

"Shh!" Shushed Diego, listening fiercely.

"I'm sure it was just thunder." Sid tried to reassure us, then felt more heat and looked down. "From...underground?" He finished unsurely.

The ground behind us suddenly exploded, a geyser of lava spouting up. We all screamed and ran forward, dodging geysers left and right. The ice broke away until it left a small bridge, leaving Diego stranded on an island.

"Come on, keep up with me." Sid called. He was currently running fast on the ice, so fast that he was slipping and staying in one place. Manny was forced to stop behind him.

"I would if you were moving!" The mammoth shouted. Sid slipped as he looked down and realized he wasn't moving.

There was a sliding of claws against ice, and Sid turned to see Diego had jumped from the island to us.

"Wow, I wish I could jump like that." Sid said after seeing the distance of the jump.

"Wish granted!" Manny spoke. Sid didn't have time to look confused as the mammoth kicked him to the safe side, making Sid slide in the dirt and smack face-first against a rock.

I, however, was too busy to notice this, as the force of Manny's kicked had sent me toppling head over heels towards the lava.

My shriek pierced the air, alerting Diego to my sudden decent. I cut quickly cut off, as Manny's trunk wrapped around my hips, catching me just in time. I saw that his trunk was still wrapped around Roshan, and was twisted awkwardly in order to hold onto us both.

In spite of my fear of dangling over the river of lava, I grabbed Roshan and held him tightly, making it easier for Manny to hold onto both of us.

Diego, seeing I was safe, deemed this an appropriate time to speak.

"Come on, move faster!" He said, shying away from the edges of the bridge.

"Have you noticed the river of lava?" Manny said sarcastically, curling his trunk protectively around Roshan and I. Him and I both looked ahead at the same time, seeing that the ice ahead of us was going to melt.

I curled up into Manny's trunk, all my instincts telling me I was going to die. I felt his trunk tighten around me, and Manny jumped. He grunted as he landed, the ice behind him crumbling away.

He quickly ran off of the ledge, both getting on solid ground and making room for Diego to jump. I heard Diego jump, and the sounds of frantic claws scrambling for purchase on ice. Manny turned around and saw how close Diego was to the edge.

"Watch them!" He shouted to Sid, putting me down beside the sloth. The mammoth ran back towards Diego, carefully reaching out his trunk to the tiger. He very slowly stepped out onto the platform, trying to put as little pressure on the thin ice as possible.

His efforts were in vain, as the ice Diego was holding suddenly broke off from the main piece. He fell, but Manny caught him with his trunk. The chunk of ice that fell came flying back up, steaming making it rise.

Manny slowly backed up, unable to go any faster with the added weight of Diego. As the ground behind him cracked, Manny flung Diego around, making him land a few feet away from us. The ice cracked once again, lowering the ten ton mammoth slightly.

We al stood there, mouths gaping, unable to comprehend what was going to happen. The ice cracked one last time, sending Manny down into the lava. There was a trumpeting sound as he went down, sounding like the cliché slow-mo death scream.

"Manny!" Sid and I shouted, both reaching out uselessly for the mammoth. Sid and Diego looked at each other, while I kept my eyes on the cliff edge. Even so, I was startled when the ice chunk came flying up, Manny with it.

He fell to the ground, shaking me to my my knees and making a cloud of snow and dirt. As the debris cleared, I ran over to Manny's side.

"Manny, Manny, Manny, you okay?" Sid asked, running over as well. "Come on, come on, say something. Anything." Sid pleaded, putting down Roshan.

Manny mumbled something unintelligibly.

"What? What? I can't hear you?" Sid spoke, leaning closer to the mammoth.

"You're standing on my trunk." Manny repeated.

"Oh." Sid realized, lifting his foot. Manny took a deep breathe. "Oh, you're okay! You're okay!" Sid shouted happily. I breathed a sigh of relief, hugging him on his shoulder.

"Why did you do that? You could've died trying to save me." Diego interrupted Sid.

"That's what you do in a herd. You look out for each other." Manny said, smiling slightly at Roshan and I.

"Well, thanks." Diego said gratefully.

"I don't know about you guys, but we are the weirdest herd I've ever seen." Sid pointed out. I laughed quietly.

"I can't say you're wrong, Sid." I spoke, picking up Roshan.

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	8. First Steps

**Alright, from now on, I can't do the whole 'one review another chapter' thing, because I don't have anything left.**

**However!**

**If I get reviews, I will try and write as fast as I can. This is the time where you start giving me your ideas on how the story will go.**

**Speaking of which, thanks to MammothsrockIceAge CodeLyokofan(w/out spaces) and goldenpuon for reviewing.**

**To the one who doesn't have an account; Carla:Thank you!**

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We took a few minutes to rest, letting Manny get his strength back after the huge fall. As soon as Manny had decided he was good to go, there was no stopping him.

For a few hours, Sid and I refused to let Manny carry either me or Roshan. We argued that he had nearly died just minutes ago, and would feel bad if we were a burden to him. Eventually, Manny managed to secure Roshan in his trunk, saying that he was extremely light, and that he would be happier to be carried in a warm place...or something. I was tired, cold, and running low on blood sugar, so I couldn't quite recall exactly what he said.

I let out a yawn, rubbed my eyes, and proceeded to trip slightly in the snow. Diego turned back to me, stopping so that I caught up with him.

"Tired?" He asked, smirking slightly. He was an extremely sarcastic animal, I had found out in our travels, but he usually never means it in anything other than playful.

"My energy for the day has been completely used up." I replied flatly, once again stumbling in the snow. Diego saved me from falling, catching me on his back. I pulled myself up, blinking tiredly.

"What did we do today that made you so tired?" He asked, honestly curious.

'_Yeesh. He may be a saber-tooth tiger, but even he couldn't have been through this much in one day.'_ I thought, eyeing the tiger to see if he was kidding.

"So maybe I didn't walk as much as I rode during the 6 hour trip, but I've honestly never walked that far before. I would be able to stay up much longer than now, but the ice-sliding and the near-death lava experience used up all of my adrenaline for today." I said irately, the sarcasm dripping from my words.

Diego looked at me in shock, then smiled slightly. He took a few steps closer to me, herding me forward faster. After a few steps, we were beside Manny.

"Manny." Diego caught his attention. The tiger gestured to me, and Manny looked over just as I was in the middle of a huge yawn. As Manny smiled at me, I rubbed my eyes, clearing away the tears that gathered whenever I yawned.

Manny's trunk suddenly wrapped around me and picked me up, placing me on his back. I started to protest, but was cut off by yet another yawn.

"You can come down when you can say a complete sentence without yawning." Manny said humorously. I knew that wouldn't happen anytime soon, so I shrugged and curled up into his fur.

I slowly woke up to a small glow, like fire.

"I'm a genius!" Said Sid, kissing a piece of rock. I suddenly shot up, falling off of Manny as I lost my balance.

I landed hard on the ground, probably bruising my hip in the process. I curled in on myself as Diego chuckled at my mistake.

"You okay there, Fayth?" Manny asked me, also amused at my slip up.

"Ha ha." I said sarcastically, sitting up shakily. "I didn't fall of on purpose." I mumbled, rubbing my sore hip. "Ow."

Sid laughed openly at me, and I threw him a glare. I felt myself grow completely irritated and annoyed at them, why would they laugh at me, I just fell, It's not like I-

I cut myself off in my thoughts. I always got like this when I was bored, tired, and hungry. The hunger I couldn't do too much about, but the boredom and the tiredness I could get rid of by sleeping the night away.

"Is that a fire?" I changed the subject, aiming to distract myself for a while. Sid nodded enthusiastically.

"With my little rock, and my high evolved brain, I have created fire!" He announced to me. I saw Manny raise and eyebrow at him, and remembered he had said almost the same thing earlier in the movie.

"We need a little more wood if it's going to burn any longer." I mentioned, looking at the pathetic pile of sticks. Manny pocked Sid.

"You started the fire, you get more wood." Said Manny. Sid grumbled, but went to gather the kindling. Manny laid down near the wall of the enclosed area, taking Roshan off of his back and putting him on the ground in front of the fire. Diego laid down in the snow facing Manny, but not quite opposite.

I moved over a bit until I was halfway between Diego and Manny, then laid down. I zoned out for a bit as Sid gathered wood and threw it into the fire.

I had to snap back to attention as Sid ran around the fire, screaming. Diego grabbed him and pulled him into the snow. Sid sighed.

"Thank you. From now on, I'm gonna call you Diego-" Sid was cut off.

"...Lord of 'Touch Me and You're Dead.'" Diego said flatly. Sid gasped and moved back quickly, only to be laughed at.

"Nah, I'm just kiddn', you little knucklehead." Diego scooped Sid into a headlock, giving him a noogie.

"Hey, lovebirds." Manny called, interrupting them. "Look at this." He put down Roshan, letting him on his own. He started to take slow and wobbly steps.

"I don't believe it." Sid said, watching as Roshan slowly wobbled towards him.

"Come here, you little biped. Come here, you little wormy-worm. Come to Uncle Sid." The sloth called, gesturing for Roshan to go towards him. Instead, the baby turned for Diego. "No, no, no, no, no, no. This way. This way." Sid tried.

"No, no, no. No, go to him." Diego said, pointing to Manny. It ws no use though, Roshan had made up his mind. "Go to him."

The baby fell on Diego's front paws, hugging him.

"Um, okay." The tiger said awkwardly. "Good job. Um, keep practicin'.' He lifted Roshan off his paw, pushing him slightly towards Manny.

I was suddenly picked up by the mammoth, and was carefully laid down in front of him. My head was on his front leg, and I was behind his tusks, cocooned in warmth from all sides.

"Look at that. Our little guy is growing up." Sid said. As soon as he finished, Roshan sneezed, sending him to the ground.

"All right, come on." Manny scooped up Roshan in his trunk. "Sleep time, lumpy." Roshan was now falling asleep in the comfortable bed known as Manny's trunk. As I watched the baby fall asleep, I felt my eyes drooping as well.

I sighed, cuddling closer into Manny as I fell asleep.

* * *

**It won't be as fast form now on, but please review!**


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